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Crabtree Valley Mall
Crabtree Valley Mall is a regional mall located in Raleigh, North Carolina. At 1,326,000 square feet (123,200 m2), it is the largest enclosed mall in the Triangle. Crabtree Valley contains over 220 stores and is anchored by Belk and Macy's. History Crabtree Valley Mall opened in August 1972 at the intersection of US 70/NC 50 (Glenwood Avenue) and the I-440 Beltline. Original anchors were Hudson Belk, Sears, Miller & Rhoads and Thalhimer's. From the start, the mall pulled shoppers from all over central and eastern North Carolina. Many of them came to the 251,000-square-foot (23,300 m2) Hudson Belk, which is still the largest store in the complex and serves as a Belk flagship. The mall was remodeled in the mid-1980s and added many specialty stores and a food court. It faced remarkably little competition in its market until the 1990s, when Cary Towne Center in nearby Cary doubled in size and spawned a companion mall, Crossroads Plaza. To combat the threat of an expanded Cary Towne Center stealing business, Crabtree embarked on a major expansion starting in 1993. G.C. Murphy, Miller & Rhoads, and Piccadilly all closed down during this period. Thalhimer's converted to Hecht's, and began planning for a new, larger location at the mall. In 1993, a 40 by 110-foot (34 m) section of the parking deck collapsed just three months after it had been completely rebuilt. Sears closed its Crabtree store in 1994 and opened a new location adjacent to it in August 1994. The old Sears became small shop space and connected to a new, larger Hecht's which opened in August 1995. Hecht's was replaced by Macy's in September 2006 as part of Federated Department Stores, Inc. absorbing The May Department Stores Company brands which also includes Hecht's after acquiring the company in 2005. On August 22, 2018, Sears announced that its store would be closing as part of a plan to close 46 stores nationwide. The store closed on November 25, 2018. This left the mall with two remaining anchors Belk and Macy’s. In June 2019, it was announced that the former Sears space will be redeveloped into a 30 story tower. On July 5, 2019, a small fire had broken out inside Macy’s. The flames were contained inside a second story fitting room, which were extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system. The cause of the fire is said to have been intentional according to the City of Raleigh. Crabtree Special Police Crabtree Valley Mall is the only mall in The Triangle that has its own private police force. The force is sworn in under North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 74E, more commonly known as the Company Police Act, which gives them the power of arrest, and requires them to be state certified officers as any municipal police agency. But due to the mall focusing on retail and customer service, Crabtree Police officers are not allowed to carry firearms while on duty. Gallery Video File:A Visit to Crabtree Valley Mall|Mall Tour Category:Malls in North Carolina Category:Multi-Level Malls Category:Shopping Malls Category:Malls in the United States Category:Malls that opened in 1972